Longcroft School Referendum: Yes Wins by 12 Votes

To mark to local elections and AV vote, students at Longcroft have taken part in their own referendum.

Spearheaded by Tom Astell, Year 10, who is one of the school’s representatives to the East Riding Youth Assembly (and of which he is also chair), balloted students on the following question: “Should the voting age be lowered to 16”.

Matt Snowden, Longcroft’s Community Liaison Coordinator, said: “Throughout the week staff have been using Power Point presentations, created by Tom, to help to explain what the local elections and referendum are all about. We believe it’s important that even at a relatively young age students learn the importance of democracy, both on a local and national level, alongside appreciating the power of the vote. Our own referendum help to put this into practice.”

With all students in Years 9 to 11 taking part and Sixth Formers having the chance to vote, the Longcroft referendum came out with a surprisingly close result:

Yes: 314
No: 302

Mr. Snowden added: “It’s quite surprising that this was such a close vote. Whilst a majority of students believed the age of voting should be lowered to 16, it was only a slim victory with just 12 votes in it. Congratulations to Tom for putting together such an excellent referendum for our students to vote in.”

With a vote this close, it just goes to show that democracy can still throw up unexpected shocks and surprises.

Will there be any close-calls or electoral upsets in the real local elections and referendum? Stay tuned to HU17.net this Friday for all the latest election news for Beverley.

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